Surgical suture and needle



Sept. 10, 1935.

5. J. EVERETT SURGICAL SUTURE AND NEEDLE Filed Oct. 16, 1931 PatentedSept. 10, 1935 ATENT OFFICE SURGICAL SUTURE AND NEEDLE Samuel JamesEverett, Thornton Heath, England Application (lctoher 16, 1931, SerialNo. 569,316 In Great Britain October 27, 1930 4 Claims.

This invention concerns improvements in and connected with rethreadableatraumatic needles and surgical sutures for use therewith.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a surgical needle towhich a suture can be quickly and firmly attached without the necessityfor threading the suture end through a transverse eye or perforation ofa needle.

A further object is to provide a needle and a co-operating suturewhereby only a small opening is made in the flesh and the patient issubjected to the minimum of injury and pain.

A further object is to adapt the end of the suture so that it can bequickly inserted into a co-operating channel or the like of the needleand be firmly lodged therein without the necessity for knotting the endof the suture.

According to this invention a rethreadable atraurnatic needle of thekind without a transverse perforation or eye at the closed end is formedwith a straight and longitudinal openended channel adapted forinterlocking with the end of the suture laid laterally therein.According to a further feature of the invention a suture for use withrethreadable atraumatic needles is formed or provided at its extremitywith a swelling or fitting adapted for being removably engaged with a(Jo-operating channel or the like of the needle.

A terminal swelling may be produced by softening, moulding and hardeningthe end of the suture as will be hereinafter described. A fitting maytake the form of a small sleeve of metal or other hard material securedupon the end of the suture. In this manner the known expedient ofknotting the end of the suture to form a stop is avoided. The channel ofthe needle may be formed with an enlarged mouth for the entry of thefitting or swelling on the suture and may have a bore which is adaptedto co-operate with said fitting or swelling to retain the suture whenthe latter is pulled axially. In this manner the suture is securelylodged in the channel in the needle in such fashion as to besubstantially enclosed within the cross section of the needle. Saidchannel may be tapered towards the open end and have undercut sidesexcept at the end having the enlarged mouth for co-operating with thestop on the suture;

One way of carrying the invention into effect will now be described byway of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the extremity of a needle showing oneform of channel therein, and

Figures 2-4 are similar views of the ends of different sutures for usewith the needle of Figure 1.

With the exception of the head-portion illustr ted, the needle 5 may beof any conventional The needle-head, which should be little or no largerin diameter than the needle itself, is formed, in the construction shownin Figure 1, m with an open ended channel 2 which tapers slightlytowards the open end to provide a lodgement for a fitting or swellingformed or provided on the suture. To prevent such fitting or swellingfrom slipping out of the channel laterally whilst the needle is in use,the sides of the channel may be slightly under-cut, as shown, over thegreater part of the length of the channel, the size of the mouth ii ofthe channel over this part being wide enough to allow of the suturebeing laid therein but not wide enough for the passage of the fitting orswelling at the suture-end. At the end of the channel 2 opposite to theopen end, the mouth of the channel is widened at 4 to permit of thelateral introduction of the fitting or swelling which can then be drawninto the tapered undercut part of the channel serving as a lodgementfor'it. The shapes of the channel-part forming the lodgement and of thefitting or swelling may be substantially complementary. The lateralintroduction of the suture-end avoids the necessity for threading thesuture through an eye in the needle, while the formation of a swelling,or the provision of a fitting, on the suture-end avoids the necessityfor knotting the suture.

A form of stop or fitting suitable for use with the needle justdescribed is shown in Figure 2: The suture 5, generally a length of finegut or thread, is shown provided with a stop in the form of a smallsilver, stainless steel or like metal 40 sleeve 6 consisting of a shortlength of tube. Said sleeve, which may be cylindrical but is preferablyslightly tapered similarly to the channel 2 is securely attached a shortdistance from the end of the suture by being shrunk thereover. Thesuture may then be burnt at the 7 end, as is done in joining belts ofgut, though this may not be necessary. For the purpose of shrinking thesleeve the external and internal diameters thereof may be reduced bypassing said sleeve, in position on the suture, through reducing rollsor into a die. The finished sleeve 6 may, in practice, he of the samediameter as the suture 5, since the suture may be slightly pressed intothe channel 2. In place of a metallic stop,

use may be made of a nonmetallic body of, for example, bakelite or otherhard moulded material.

To engage the suture with the needle I. the end of the suture 5 is laidwith the stop 6 in the channel 2. A large suture may have to be gentlypressed through the part 3 of the channel mouth. The suture is thendrawn axially towards the open end of the channel 2 so that the stopenters the tapered undercut part and wedges firmly therein. The sutureprojects rearwardly from the open end of the channel and in line withthe needle, there being no part substantially larger 7 than the needleitself and no projecting part. Consequently a small opening only is madein the flesh so that the patient is subjected to the minimum of injuryand pain, while the pulling of the suture through the flesh is greatlyfacilitated. Also the suture is very easily lodged in the channel of theneedle and sutures of varying diameters provided with a stop of the samediameter may, at will, be lodged in the same needle.

When the stitching operation has been completed the end of the suturecan readily be removed from the needle by simply loosening the stop fromthe lodgement and then lifting the suture and stop therefrom. The needlecan be rethreaded when required and used again.

Alternatively, a stop for use with the needle shown in Figure 1 maycomprise a shaped and hardened end portion of the suture 5. One methodof producing a stop 'I (Fig. 3) or swelling 8 (Fig. 4) of this kind isas follows:

The end of a catgut suture is softened by, for example, immersion inwater, soda water or the like medium. The soft end of the gut is thenmoulded or pressed to the required shape of stop, the precise shapebeing appropriate to the form of needle with which the suture is to beused. The shaped swollen end of the gut may be removed from the mould todry but is preferably allowed to dry and harden in the mould itself. Acontracting mould may be used. If desired, a protective coating, such asa varnish or cellulose preparation, may be applied to the stop formed onthe end of the gut or the gut may be impregnated with some suchsubstance as wax or celluloid. This enables the used of the suture tosoften the same, as is sometimes desirable, without injuring the shapedand hardened end portion forming the stop. 5

I claim:

1. An eyeless rethreadable atraumatic needle formed at its blunt endwith a tapering longitudinal channel which is open at its end andlaterally over its whole length for the reception of a 10 suture laidlaterally therein, said channel having an enlarged mouth for the entryof a knotless stop on the end of the suture and having undercut sides,between said mouth and the open end, and said channel being adapted togrip and retain said 15 stop when drawn axially into said channel bypulling the suture.

2. The combination of a suture provided with a fitting secured aroundits end and a rethreadable atraumatic needle formed at its blunt end 20with a longitudinal channel which is opened at the end and laterallyover its whole length, said channel having an enlarged mouth forreceiving said fitting when the suture is laid laterally in the channeland having a tapered shape to grip 25 said fitting when the latter isdrawn axially into said channel.

3. The combination of a suture formed with a swelling around its end anda rethreadable needle formed with a longitudinal channel which is 3 openat the end and laterally over its whole length, said channel having anenlarged mouth for the entry of said swelling when the suture is laidlaterally in the channel and having a shape to grip said swelling whenthe latter is pulled axially 3 into said channel.

4. In combination with a suture, an eyeless rethreadable atraumaticneedle having a crosssection not substantially larger than that of thesuture and formed at its blunt end with a longi- 4U tudinal channelwhich is open laterally and has thin side walls formed to grip the endof the suture when the latter is laid laterally therein and pulledaxially into the channel.

SAMUEL JAlVIES EVERETT.

